Mercantile credit in Britain and America, 1700-1860 -- A "system of espionage": the origins of the credit-reporting firm -- Character, capacity, capital: how to be creditworthy -- Jewish merchants and the struggle over transparency -- Growth, competition, legitimacy: credit reporting in the late nineteenth century -- From competition to cooperation: the birth of the credit man, 1890-1920 -- Epilogue: Business credit reporting in the twenty-first century.